You are here

Search form

Search

Magnet School Helps Students Develop, Appreciate
Different Talents

An elementary magnet school built on the campus of the University
of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut, is striving to educate a diverse
student body, using the multiple intelligences theories of psychologist
Howard Gardner. Although admitting the school is "under a microscope"
to see whether it will succeed, Principal Cheryl Kloczko is committed
to the school's missions. Included: Ways of applying
multiple intelligences theories in classrooms.

Jumping rope is not just for recess anymore.

At the University
of Hartford Magnet School (UHMS) in West Hartford, Connecticut, jumping
rope is a multi-purpose lesson, teaching students to use athletic, musical,
and interpersonal skills.

Jumping rope, like most activities at the school, is designed to teach
students that all abilities -- whether they're related to art,
mathematics, athletics, or interpersonal interactions -- are important
and interrelated.

The magnet school, which opened in September 2001, brings together students
from seven diverse communities -- the city of Hartford and the surrounding
suburban towns of Avon, Bloomfield, Farmington, Simsbury, West Hartford,
and Wethersfield -- and teaches them according to the multiple intelligences
theories of Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner.

Although more than 100 schools in the country apply multiple intelligences
theories to student learning, UHMS is the first school in the country
with a curriculum designed exclusively around Gardner's ideas and located
in a building constructed to accommodate that approach. It's also the
first public school built on the campus of a private university.

A TOTAL EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

In its first year of operation, UHMS enrolled pre-K through third grade
students; eventually, the school will accommodate students through fifth
grade. About 1,400 students applied for the opening year's 266 K-3 slots and the school had a waiting list.
Each participating town is allowed
to send a certain number of students. Half the school's students, all
of whom were selected by lottery, are from Hartford.

The school offers an extended day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and day care
is available before and after school on a sliding-scale fee basis. A Family
and Wellness Center provides support programs for parents and families.

"We hope UHMS will become a national model," principal Cheryl Kloczko
says about her school. "If we can create quality education for a diverse
population, we'll have made it. And if you can do it here, you can do
it anywhere."

WHICH INTELLIGENCES ARE YOU USING?

The school's primary goal is to introduce students to Gardner's intelligences
so they appreciate all the intelligences, learn their own strengths, and
develop those strengths in conjunction with the other intelligences.

Students at the University of Hartford Magnet
School are encouraged to identify their strongest intelligence
and to appreciate others' strengths. (Education World Photo)

Gardner theorizes that the eight kinds of human intelligences are

Linguistic: sensitivity to the meaning and order of words.

Logical-mathematical: ability in mathematics and other complex
logical systems.

Musical: ability to understand and create music.

Spatial-visual: ability to "think in pictures," to perceive
the visual world accurately, and to re-create (or alter) it in the mind
or on paper.

Bodily-kinesthetic: ability to use one's body in a skilled
way, for self-expression or to achieve a goal.

Interpersonal: ability to perceive and understand other individuals
-- their moods, desires, and motivations.

Intrapersonal: understanding of one's own emotions. Some novelists
and or counselors use their own experience to guide others.

Naturalist: ability to recognize and classify plants, rocks,
and animals.

Students at UHMS spend about 30 minutes a day studying mathematics;
two and a half hours working on verbal language skills, which include
reading, writing, and social studies; and 45 minutes every other day studying
musical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and interpersonal/intrapersonal
intelligences.

Students have adapted quickly to the multiple intelligences language,
according to Kloczko. "I had a parent tell me her child came home and
said 'I was people-smart today.' "

"Children are seeing that to do something, you need multiple intelligences,"
Kloczko adds. "You never use an intelligence in isolation. If you can
recognize an intelligence in yourself and others, this leads to mutual
respect. If kids can understand there are many ways to be smart, they
can be more confident learners. And when they identify their own strengths,
they build self-confidence."

DUAL MISSIONS

The school's second mission is to serve a diverse population. The multiple
intelligences school is one of the magnet elementary schools in the
state created in response to a Connecticut court ruling. In the case of
Sheff v. O'Neill, the parent of a student in Hartford's urban school
district sued the state, claiming that her child's education was inferior
to that of students in non-urban areas. As a result, the state now is
under a court order to voluntarily reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation
among all students. The court was not specific, however, about how the
state should go about it, according to Dr. Bruce Douglas, executive director
of the Capitol Region Education
Council (CREC), which manages the magnet schools and provides services
to school district in the Hartford region. "The two goals are simply quality
education in a diverse environment," Douglas says.

To meet those goals, a committee made up of members of the participating
school districts and the University
of Hartford developed the plan for the magnet school.

Faculty members from the University of Hartford remain active in the
school's day-to-day operations. "This is a 'died-and-went-to-heaven-type'
of opportunity," says Regina Miller, chairwoman of the University
of Hartford's division of education. "Some of us here worked very
hard to see this [school] happen. We believe in the value of this for
the university. We felt the university's division of education had something
to contribute to the Hartford community. It's also ideal for our students.
It's a win-win situation."

Jasmine, seven, a very articulate second-grader from Hartford, says
she wanted to attend the school "so I could learn more and make new friends.
I have lots of friends from all over the place."

"It's a very exciting school; parents and teachers have quickly coalesced
around the magnet," Douglas adds. "It's certainly how all children should
be taught; all good schools are using elements of Howard Gardner's approach."

APPLYING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

"Smart boards" allow teachers to use lessons
from the Internet with the entire class. (Education World
photo)

As a way of applying Gardner's theories, the multiple intelligences are
incorporated into classroom lessons. Teachers at the magnet school trained
intensively in Gardner's theories over the summer. "The real difference
is in how instruction is presented and how students are assessed," Kloczko
says. "[Students] can show in different ways how they have learned something."
A child who cannot identify a letter on a board may be able to form it with
his or her body, Kloczko notes.

Pupils studied Thanksgiving, for example, from an interpersonal angle,
exploring how the Pilgrims needed support from others to survive. Science
lessons are incorporated into the naturalist intelligence program. School
staff also emphasize technology, but it is so deeply integrated into the
curriculum that the school does not have a separate computer room. Teachers,
for example, can project Internet pages from a laptop onto interactive
whiteboards (often called "smart boards"), then manipulate the information
by touching the whiteboard screen, just as they could manipulate it using
a mouse.

The existence in traditional schools of subjects called "specials" was
an incentive for art teacher Elizabeth Crowell to make the move to the
magnet school.

"Here, visual-spatial learning is integrated into the classroom. Every
other day, [kids] have 45 minutes of visual-spatial instruction. It's
not just a frill -- it's as important as every other intelligence," Crowell
tells Education World. "I believe in multiple intelligences; it was very
apparent in kids I taught at other schools. Some kids excelled in art
but not in other areas. Here, we use multiple intelligences to get through
to them." For one project, second graders made squares for a quilt illustrating
three of the intelligences.

Music class activities help students develop
interpersonal and bodily-kinesthetic skills. (Education World
photo)

On the day that Education World visited the school, students in a musical
intelligences class formed a circle with teacher Lillie Feierabend, sang,
clapped hands, jumped forward and backward, and composed lyrics for the
song, utilizing music, bodily-kinesthetic, language, and interpersonal skills.
In a large open room called the agora (the Greek word for marketplace),
another group of second graders and kindergartners worked in groups in a
rope-jumping game.

Staff also want to help children learn to make good choices and take
responsibility for their actions, Kloczko says. To encourage that, tables
in the rear of classrooms provide a place for students to go to talk through
problems. Each classroom also has a chair set aside, which teachers call
"Australia," for students who need some time to sit and collect themselves.

FITTING IN

Several students -- and a teacher-- say the school's learning style and
atmosphere helped them to feel more accepted than they had in their former
schools; only two and a half months into the school year, students could
identify their strongest intelligences.

Elise, eight, a third-grader from Hartford, says she wanted to go to
the magnet school because "My other school wasn't a nice school -- people
really weren't nice to me." She says it's easier to learn at the magnet
school because "other kids want to learn too."

Elise adds that she has discovered that her "true intelligence" is naturalist
-- although she likes visual-spatial as well and wants to combine the
two areas. "I would like to be someone who sketches landscapes."

Nine-year-old Christian, a third-grader from suburban West Hartford,
also says he likes visual-spatial activities best and that he enjoys school
more now than in the past. "I was having a tough year at the old school
last year -- this year is going better for me so far."

Second-grade teacher Laura Wonderlie says she had used some of the multiple
intelligences ideas in her former school and wanted to work with other
people of the same mindset. "I wanted to be with colleagues who are highly
motivated and do what's best for kids," Wonderlie tells Education World.
"There's a lot more flexibility here in meeting kids' needs. In my previous
school, I was an oddity, using thematic approaches. Here, everyone understands
the same approach."

FACULTY, UNIVERSITY SUPPORT

Time for teachers to collaborate is built into the school day. Teachers
meet a minimum of three times a week to discuss students and issues, and
staff development programs are offered once a month. Each teacher also
has a small office adjacent to his or her classroom, with a desk, printer,
scanner, and phone.

"Our biggest resource is one another," Michael Seal, a second-grade
teacher, says. "It's about thinking out of the box; everything we do is
reflected on and adjusted immediately. We really get time to plan and
adjustTeachers can do what research has been saying [they should be doing]
for a long time ."

"This is one of the most powerful groups of teachers I have been around,
in terms of teaching skills, ability, intelligence, commitment to mission,
and love of children," CREC's Douglas says.

University of Hartford staff and students also provide extensive support
and resources. Students from the university student teach and volunteer
at the school. Magnet school teachers serve as adjunct professors in the
University of Hartford's division of education, and they can attend professional
development programs at the university as well. Cultural programs hosted
by the university often are shared with the school.

"We have been embraced," by the university, says Kloczko.

Miller, the education division's chairwoman, serves on the magnet school's
principal's advisory committee and works weekly with the school's pre-school
teachers.

First-graders have been pen pals with students in a university class
on teaching reading for education majors. The college students are able
to see how children process language and learn to read and write, says
Kloczko.

A COMMUNITY OF RISK-TAKERS

Although Kloczko and staff members say they are pleased with the school's
operation so far, Kloczko admits that a certain perspective is needed
among parents and staff.

"We had several parent meetings in other districts before the school
opened, and we didn't even have a building to show them," Kloczko says.
"We got the certificate of occupancy two days before school opened. At
the parent meetings, I said we have two things in common -- we all [parents
and teachers] are risk-takers and we all applied to be here. After that,
some parents pulled their applications. They decided they did not want
to take risks with their children's education."

For her part, Kloczko, who was selected from among 28 applicants for
the principal's job, says she sought the position because "I liked everything
about the school and I wanted a change."

Still, the staff feels pressured to prove that the multiple intelligences
approach is effective, not only to the state but also to the participating
school districts. "We are under a microscope to see how we perform," Kloczko
says. "We have to report back to school districts that students made a
year's growth in a year's time." Summer school will be required for those
students not performing at grade level at the end of the term, she adds.

Some more-formal learning will need to occur in fourth and fifth grades,
Kloczko adds. Students in fourth grade are required to take Connecticut
Mastery Tests, state proficiency tests, in reading, writing, and mathematics.
The tests are used not only to review student performance but that of
the school and district as well.

Despite the pressure, however, the school's founders are confident about
their mission. "I think it is how every child should learn," the University
of Hartford's Miller says. "For too long, we have stifled children who
learn in other ways. These children can learn if given multiple opportunities."